By Rachel Williams, NACAC Communications

New Orleans, LA (July 30, 2024) – To truly make a difference in the work of diversity, equity, and inclusion, professionals need to be fully committed and not just ride the wave of passion that comes after big incidents.

That was one of the takeaways from the inaugural Equity Leadership Institute at Guiding the Way to Inclusion 2024 in New Orleans, Louisiana on July 29.

“We are all moved by certain passions we have. Much of the work we find ourselves doing is because we were moved by the wave of the moment,” said Anthony Jones, vice president of enrollment management at Loyola University (LA). “It’s possible in 10 years, we hit a lull then we back out of it because there’s an incident that occurs. You have to make a conscious decision to stay in the work [of equity] whether there’s a wave or not.”

The Equity Leadership Institute, in its inaugural year, was facilitated by Olufemi Ogundele, associate vice chancellor and dean of enrollment at the University of California, Berkeley; Ashley Pallie, dean of admissions at California Institute of Technology; and Calvin Wise, deputy dean at Johns Hopkins University. It included three panel discussions that ranged from how to lead in a time of tumultuous change and attacks on DEI, to the future of enrollment management, to human resources in a time of changing enrollment needs and admission offices.

Some ways college admission counseling leaders can work toward greater equity at their institutions is by building strong partnerships.

“I don’t mean the ones where you say, ‘I know someone there,’ but the ones where you are actively building something together,” said Ogundele.

Leaders also should become institutional agents, meaning they should be involved in as many parts of the institution as possible to help influence its messaging, how it interacts with students, and more.

“You don’t know what the entry point is going to be for every new student,” he said.

Leaders also should consider how their institution’s mission can serve as an anchor point to start talking about equity. For Ogundele, who works at a public institution with a mission of serving the state of California, he argues that until their student body reflects the diversity of California, there is still work to be done.

For Pallie, that looks different. Her institution — Caltech — focuses on STEM, and she has found ways to tie equity goals into the overall goal of recruiting more students into STEM.

“You need to speak the language of your faculty and your institution,” said Pallie.

Other panelists shared about their mindsets to overcome imposter syndrome and what skills are needed in today’s higher education leadership climate.

The Equity Leadership Institute, made possible by WittKieffer, was the preconference workshop of Guiding the Way to Inclusion, which will feature DEI-focused education sessions from July 30-Aug. 1, as well as prominent speakers Calvin Mackie, Big Freedia, and Rosa Clemente.

For more on what’s happening at Guiding the Way to Inclusion 2024, read the daily highlights from NACAC.